Staying At GreatStone Castle

It’s been 6 months since my entire world restarted, so it’s definitely time for a vacation. I love to travel and for this mini getaway I stayed right in my new city. In downtown Sidney, there’s a big row of old homes. Right in the middle of it is a mansion on a hill. It’s known as GreatStone Castle and it’s been converted into an incredible bed & breakfast.

When you stay at GreatStone Castle, half the fun is getting a tour of the grounds and hearing the history of the building and the family who built it. So I won’t give too many spoilers. William Henry Collier Goode built the castle in 1892 for his family. He was a local businessman who owned the American Steel Scrapper Company and several farms and ranches around the country (one of which was found to have oil hiding underneath). No expense was spared in creating the home and some of the furniture has even been designated to be “willed” to each new owner of the house so that it never leaves its rightful place.

Crystal flowers in the dining room. My favorite flower is the calla lily, so this display made me so happy.

Take Me Away

We got the Brighton Suite for the night and two massages in the morning. The room was a beautiful Victorian suite with a large attached private bathroom which something you don’t always get when you stay in a B&B. Two thumbs up for not having to put on pants to get to the shower in the morning. The gorgeous decor included a vanity that I wish I could have put in my bag and taken home. It was perfect. To make it even better, there was a box of Winans chocolates waiting on it for me.

The staff was as welcoming as the room. The owners showed us around and gave us a full tour of the castle complete with the history of the family that built it. We were directed toward a little table on the second floor where we could put in our breakfast order. The kitchen staff is warm and came out to talk to us between parts of the meal about the castle and the city’s history.

I keep saying we, so it’s a good time to introduce my traveling companion. This is Josh. Everyone say Hi Josh! This is what happens when I make him wake up early to get breakfast and a massage with me.

Relax And Chill 101

After breakfast we were taken downstairs to the spa in the lower levels. It’s a spa, not a dungeon, I promise. At the back of the corridor was a room with a large round bathtub full of jets for a soak before the massages. After about a half hour of soaking and enjoying the music, we were led to the other room where we received amazing relaxation massages. For an hour we had a side-by-side couple’s massage and it really was just what I needed in the middle of moving stress.

Facials room that has a beautiful pink whirlpool tub around the corner. This is the room I’m coming back for.

Hauntings

The castle is rumored to be haunted and has been visited by ghost hunters several times. The owners were nice enough to show me some of the photos showing weird phenomenon in the castle as well as a list of sounds recorded by the ghost hunters during a visit. The sounds are most frequent near the nursery and hallway outside of it, which of course is where the dolls are kept. They’re happy to show guests these photos anytime, but I’m happy I only found out after our night there.

Photo of the dolls taken in the middle of the night before I had heard anything about it being a ghostly hot-spot.

After we looked at the info on the hauntings, we went up to the attic where they store a lot of the extra antiques and holiday items. I could have spent another entire day up there going through everything.

To have the full experience that we did with the room and massage package, it would cost somewhere around $339 at the time I’m writing this. That’s for the room with chocolates, a mineral bath, and an hour and a half long couples massage. It’s worth every penny. We left the bed and breakfast completely recharged and it was all a very wonderful experience. I’ll definitely be going back again soon.